Method and system for communicating a data file

ABSTRACT

A method and system for forwarding information such as data files to a recipient across disparate or incompatible communication networks, which are not constrained by incompatible user devices. The sender sends information such as a data file to an intended recipient via a messaging server. The messaging server communicates with the intended recipient using basic communication tools that are generally compatible regardless of the network that the recipient is subscribed to. The messaging server stores the information, creates and sends a notification message to the intended recipient that she has information to be retrieved. The notification message includes a unique access address associated with the message, at which the recipient can retrieve the information. Different unique access addresses are associated with different messages.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.10/852,845, titled “Method and system for communicating a data file overa network”, filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office onMay 24, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,161,116, which claims priority of thefollowing U.S. provisional patent applications: Ser. No. 60/472,989,filed May 23, 2003; Ser. No. 60/472,990, filed May 23, 2003; Ser. No.60/472,994, filed May 23, 2003; Ser. No. 60/510,214, filed Oct. 9, 2003;and Ser. No. 60/520,471, filed Nov. 13, 2003. These related applicationsare incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this applicationas if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to messaging, particularly to transmittingdata files over a communication network.

2. Description of Related Art

In telecommunication networks, such as cellular wireless networks,various messaging services are available to the subscriber/users, asalternative means of communicating short of calling one another, attimes when the initiating party and the intended recipient may not besimultaneously available for or may not desire real time voicecommunication to take place between them. Such messaging servicesinclude voicemail messaging, short message service (SMS) text messaging,multi-media messaging service (MMS), etc. Some of these services arecarrier, provider, network or platform dependent (collectively referredhereinafter as network dependent, as opposed to network independent),and some are user device dependent. Network dependent refers tomessaging services that would work in one network (e.g., carrier,provider, platform or physical network) but not another, because ofdifferences in operating parameters, specification, limitations, andother characteristics among the different carriers, providers, platformsor physical networks. Such differences may include incompatibilitiesarising from underlying technologies, communication frequencies,communication platform which may be viewed as the underlying hardwareand software that handles communication over a network, communicationprotocol which may be viewed as the way data is exchanged among userdevices, or simply the physical or operational restrictions networkproviders and carriers imposed to distinguish their services.

For example, in cellular carrier networks, voicemail messaging has beennetwork dependent. Each network may be associated with a differentprovider that implements a different hardware and/or software platform,and/or utilizes a different set of communication and/or data protocols.For voicemails, each cellular carrier (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, Cingular,etc.) maintains a proprietary voicemail system within its own carriernetwork. While a person in one cellular carrier network may call anotherperson in another cellular carrier network to leave a voicemail message,voicemails cannot be transferred from one cellular carrier network toanother by messaging. However, within the same cellular carrier network,a sender can record a message and forward the message to a designatedrecipient. Heretofore, voicemail messaging is not available acrossdissimilar cellular carrier networks and dissimilar platforms within thesame network.

SMS text messaging is typically not network dependent. As long as acarrier offers SMS text messaging as a service to its customers, SMStext messaging is compatible over disparate cellular carrier networks. Asender in one network can send an SMS text message to a recipient inanother network. Most cellular handsets are enabled with SMS textmessaging function. However, SMS text messages have characterlimitations (typically 160 characters), and a sender may need to sendmultiple text messages to fully communicate his message. Furthermore, asender is required to use the awkward text entry interface of a cellularphone to input his message. Voicemail messaging would be the moredesirable option in some situations, subject to its network and platformdependency.

MMS offers additional functionalities to support messaging ofmulti-media files, such as audio, video, graphics, photos, images,music, and other types of digital data. MMS is user device and networkdependent. However, while some of the modern cellular handsets may havethe capabilities to handle MMS functions, not all handsets are enabledto do so. For a sender of a MMS message, he cannot be certain that theintended recipient has the appropriate handset on the appropriatenetwork that is enabled to receive MMS message.

The above-mentioned incompatibility issues relating to the variousmessaging services are exacerbated when a sender wishes to send textmessages, voice messages and/or multimedia files across disparatenetworks to disparate devices. The incompatibility issues are furtherexacerbated for messaging between different categories of communicationnetworks, e.g., voicemail messaging cannot be conducted between alandline phone operating in a public switched telephone network (PSTN)and a cellular phone operating in a cellular network; a landlinetelephone cannot receive a text message. The differences betweenproviders and devices can create incompatibilities that prevent thereceipt of, for example, text messages, voice messages, and multimediafiles, across disparate networks.

United Kingdom Patent Application Number 2,387,737 to Munnarizpurportedly discloses a telephone message network that stores a voicemessage from a sender to a recipient. According to its abstract, thesender is prompted by the network to supply, with the voice message,information identifying the recipient, and the network sends a textmessage to the recipient announcing the existence of the voice message.When the recipient calls to retrieve her voice message, the networkselects the appropriate voice message using calling line identity (CLI)to identify the calling device of the intended recipient of the message.The number called by the recipient to retrieve voice message is notuniquely associated with the voice message. Since any person may callthe same number to retrieve their own messages, the system can onlydistinguish between the callers by the callers' CLI. This system doesnot actually authenticate the caller, as anyone calling with the correctcalling device would be presumed to be the intended recipient of themessage. Further, this system does not support other types of messaging,such as MMS.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved messaging systemthat will enable a sender to send information including data files, suchas SMS text messages, voice messages, multimedia files, image files,text files and executable files to a recipient who is not in the samecarrier network as the sender.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an improved method and system forforwarding information such as data files to a recipient acrossdisparate or incompatible communication networks, which are notconstrained by incompatible user devices. The sender sends a message toan intended recipient via a messaging server. The sender is a subscriberof the messaging server, thus the sender device is compatible with themessaging server. In accordance with the present invention, themessaging server communicates with the intended recipient using basiccommunication tools that are generally compatible regardless of thenetwork that the recipient is subscribed to.

In one aspect of the present invention, a sender using a sender devicesuch as a cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), portablecomputer, personal computer or landline phone sends a message orinformation to a messaging server. The information may include a datafile. Examples of a data file include a voice message, text document, amusical file, a picture file, an executable file and a multimedia file.The messaging server stores the information, creates and sends anotification message to the intended recipient that she has informationto be retrieved. The notification message may be in the form of a SMStext message, voice call, or other means of notification that arenetwork independent, or compatible over disparate networks.

The notification message includes a unique access address associatedwith the message. Different unique access addresses are associated withdifferent messages. In one embodiment, the unique access address maycontain a phone number the recipient can call to retrieve her message.The messaging server authenticates the caller to be the intendedrecipient based on the called number and/or the Caller ID of the caller,and presents the message that had been associated with the unique accessaddress. In another embodiment, the notification message may contain alink to a specific location such as a website where a data file such asa picture file or text document can be downloaded by the recipient. Arecipient may use message retrieval devices that may be different fromthe user device that received the notification message, particularlywhere the user device may not be compatible with or enabled to retrievethe type of message at the specified location.

The present invention is particularly suitable for use in cellularcommunication systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a messaging network throughwhich a sender transmits a data file from a sender device to a recipientdevice according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a messaging network throughwhich a sender transmits a data file from a sender cellular phone to arecipient cellular phone according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of acommunications network through which the messaging method and system ofthe present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of a computersystem that facilitates the messaging method, and system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a messaging server and a voicerecognition device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a messaging server thatassociates a data file with an address of a recipient device accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting a data filefrom a sender device to a recipient device according to one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of a messaging server according toone embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present description is of the best presently contemplated modes ofcarrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose ofillustrating the general principles of the invention and should not betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determinedby reference to the appended claims.

The present invention is directed to a method and a system forcommunicating data files across a single or multiple communicationnetworks. To facilitate an understanding of the principles and featuresof the present invention, they are explained herein below with referenceto its deployments and implementations in illustrative embodiments. Byway of example and not limitation, the present invention is describedherein-below in reference to examples of communicating messagescontaining information or data file over cellular networks, such asvoice messages and multimedia data files.

The present invention can find utility in a variety of implementationswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as will beapparent from an understanding of the principles that underlie theinvention. It is understood that the messaging concepts of the presentinvention may be applied to business and personal communications, andmay be implemented by commercial as well as private communicationnetworks.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present inventionwhere a sender device 40 transmits a data file 50 to a recipient device80, 82. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram 102 illustrating the steps in thisembodiment. The sender 40 transmits (at step 104) via communicationsnetwork 58 the data file 50 to a messaging server 60, along with theintended recipient's notification address (e.g., cellular phone number,landline phone number, email address, instant message ID, etc.). Thenetwork 58 may include cellular network, telephony network (e.g.,landline or PSTN), data network, Internet, or other types ofcommunications networks. The sender 40 may specify more than onerecipient of the same data file. The messaging server 60 stores (at step106) the data file 50 in a database 64 and sends (at step 108) anotification message 70, 72 to the recipient 80, 82, respectively, basedon the recipient's notification address. Depending on the network therecipient is subscribed to, the recipient 80, 82 may be sent thenotification message 70, 72 through the same network 58 as the sender40, or through a different network 76, respectively. The notificationmessage 70, 72 contains a unique access address 66, which is assigned tobe associated with the data file 50. The notification message 70, 72 mayalso include message ID, name of data file, sender's identification,size of message, date and time of message, and other relevantinformation, which may be provided by the sender or the system (e.g.,time and date). The notification message 70, 72 usually do not includeany substantive part of the content of the message or data file, toavoid exceeding the notification messaging limitation. Although in oneembodiment of the present invention, content of the message or data fileis sent as an attachment to the notification to the recipient device,depending on the capabilities of the device. The recipient 80, 82receives (at step 110) the notification message 70, 72 and using theunique access address 66 retrieves (at step 112) the data file 50. Theunique access address may be an access address to contact the messagingserver 60. The unique access address may include a phone number and/orweb address. The network through which the notification message is sentto the recipient may be different from the network through which themessage is retrieved by the recipient.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present inventionwhere a sender device is a cellular phone 42 that transmits a voicemessage 52 to a recipient device 84 that is also a cellular phone.(Other embodiments, not shown, may include sending data files over theInternet network, to recipient devices such as PDAs and PCs.) The sendercellular phone 42 transmits the voice message 52 to a messaging server60. The messaging server 60 stores the voice message 52 in a database 64and sends a notification text message 78 to recipient cellular phone 84.The recipient cellular phone 84 may be sent the notification textmessage 78 through the same network 48 as the sender cellular phone, orthrough a different network 74 depending on the recipient's network. Inone embodiment, the recipient network may be different than the networkof the sender, with respect to, for example, communication protocol,operating frequency, operating platform or other operational and/orfunctional aspects that render the sender and recipient networksincompatible for direct messaging of the sender's data file.

The notification text message 78 contains a unique access phone number54 that is assigned to be associated with the voice message 52. Therecipient cellular phone 84 receives the notification text message 78and calls the unique access phone number 54 to retrieve her voicemessage 52. In one embodiment, the access phone number may not bevisible to the recipient, but rather, is associated with a menu prompt.The access phone number is dialed if the recipient responds by pressinga specified button on the menu prompt on the recipient cellular phone.

In one embodiment, the messaging server 60 identifies the unique accessaddress used by the recipient device through a dialed numberidentification service (DNIS). The DNIS may be provided by the telephonynetwork used by the recipient to retrieve her data file. The network mayalso provide the access phone number by transmitting DTMF tones to themessaging server 60 from a local central office. The messaging server 60selects the data file from the mass storage device that is associatedwith the unique access address and then transmits such correspondingdata file to the recipient.

In addition or in the alternate, the caller to the messaging server maybe requested to authenticate herself as the intended recipient uponaccess to the messaging server 60. This is to provide additionalsecurity in case a person who is not the intended recipient was tointentionally impersonate the recipient by dialing the unique accessnumber associate with data file from the sender, or was to accidentallydial such unique access number. The authentication process may involvethe caller having to input the intended recipient's notification address(e.g., the recipient's cell phone number) and/or personal identifyinginformation such as one or more of name, user ID, unique personalidentification number code (PIN code). The messaging server 60authenticates the caller as the intended recipient upon matching theunique access number to the callers authenticating information (e.g.,recipient's cell phone number, PIN, etc.). In another embodiment, themessaging server 60 may be configured to authenticate the caller as theintended recipient if the caller's Caller ID (or Automated NumberIdentification “ANI”) matches the recipient notification address. Insuch embodiment, the recipient must be calling from the same device asthe notification address. In another embodiment, the recipient may use adifferent device to retrieve a data file sent by the sender. Forexample, the data file is a relatively large multi-media file, and therecipient's cellular device notified by the messaging server 60 is notcompatible to download a file of that size and/or a multimedia file. Therecipient can well use a PDA or PC to contact the messaging server 60 atthe assigned unique access address to download the large multimediafile.

FIG. 6 illustrates the situation in which one or more senders senddifferent message data files to more than one intended recipients. Inthis embodiment, a database 64 associates a data file 94, 96, 98, 100,101 with the addresses of 86, 88, 90, 92, 93 of different recipients,respectively. A plurality of data files 94, 96, 98, 100, 101 areassociated with a plurality of recipient notification addresses 86, 88,90, 92, 93 and each recipient notification address 86, 88, 90, 92, 93 isassociated with a single unique access address (e.g., access phonenumbers 67 a, . . . , 67 n), respectively. Specifically, recipient one'sdata file 94, recipient two's data file 96, recipient three's data file98, recipient four's data file 100 and recipient n's data file 101 arealso associated with recipient one's notification address 86, recipienttwo's notification address 88, recipient three's notification address90, recipient four's notification address 92, and recipient n'snotification address 93, respectively. In addition, recipient one's datafile 94, recipient two's data file 96, recipient three's data file 98,recipient four's data file 100 and recipient n's data file 101 are alsoassociated with recipient one's unique access address 67 a, recipienttwo's unique access address 67 b, recipient three's unique accessaddress 67 c, recipient four's unique access address 67 d, and recipientn's unique access address 67 n, respectively.

When a recipient retrieves her data file (one of 94, 96, 98, 100, 101)using one of the unique access addresses 67 a to 67 n, the recipientnotification address 86, 88, 90, 92, 93 and the unique access addressdialed are identified by the messaging server 60, and the messagingserver 60 offers the corresponding recipient data file 94, 96, 98, 100,101, respectively, to the recipient. In this embodiment, it iscontemplated that the recipient device receiving the notificationmessage is the same device that retrieves the data file, so therecipient's device address can be automatically determined by Caller IDor ANI. If the recipient uses a different device to retrieve the datafile, the messaging server 60 may require additional authenticationprocedure as describe above.

In the event the sender wishes to send the same data file to more thanone recipients (e.g., sending the data file to a distribution list ofrecipients), the messaging system 60 can be configured to send the samenotification message with the same unique access address associated withthe same data file to the multiple recipients. In this case, to send thesame data file to n recipients, the unique addresses 67 a-67 n would bethe same, and the recipient data files 94, 96, 98, 100 and 101 would bethe same. Only one copy of the data file is required to be maintained bythe messaging server 60, which may be accessed by multiple recipients.Alternatively, each recipient may be assigned a unique access addresseven for the same data file.

The messaging server may resend the notification message if the datafile is not retrieved within a predetermined period of time. In oneembodiment, a notification message is not sent while the sender isaccessing the messaging server, but rather, is queued for laterdelivery, depending on a number of factors, such as (a) availablebandwidth; (b) priority of the message designated by the sender; (c)whether the recipient address involves a long distance call; (d) whetherrecipient is in the same network as the sender; and any other relevantfactors. In another embodiment, the notification message is sentimmediately once the recipient's contact information is known, and themessage completed.

The notification message may comprise in addition to, or alternativelyto, a text message, a voice message and/or an electronic mail. A voicenotification message is typically used where the recipient is to benotified through a landline phone that cannot receive a text message.The messaging server 60 dials the recipient's landline phone through aPSTN and transmits an audible voice notification message that providesan access phone number with which the recipient can dial to hear hervoice message. In addition, the messaging server 60 may auto-connect therecipient to the access phone number, as explained elsewhere herein. Therecipient device 40 may comprise a cellular phone, a PDA and/or portablecomputer, a landline phone and a personal computer. The unique accessaddress may comprise a phone number and/or a website address. In oneembodiment, the notification message provides a website address wherethe data file can be downloaded, and in one embodiment, the websiteaddress may appear in a text notification message and/or a voicenotification message.

In another embodiment, if the sender wishes to provide redundancy, andif the intended recipient has more than one device to which notificationmessages may be sent, the sender may elect to have the messaging server60 send a notification message to more than one recipient device. Afterthe recipient retrieved the message associated with the notificationmessage, a cancellation message is sent by the messaging server 60 toall the recipient devices that earlier received message notification, toavoid the recipient the inconvenience of attempting to retrieve amessage that has already been retrieved.

Referring to FIG. 8, the messaging server 60 may comprise a data filereceiver 202 for receiving the data file from the sender device, anotification message transmitter 204 for transmitting the notificationmessage to the recipient, and a data file transmitter 206 fortransmitting the data file to the recipient upon the recipient access ofthe messaging server 60. Example of a notification message transmitter204 include a module or an interface to short message service center(SMSC) gateway server or short message peer to peer (SMPP) gatewayserver, interfaces to email servers using standard protocols such asPOP3/IMAP4, SMTP as well as proprietary protocols such as MAPI/CDO, andinterfaces to voice mail systems or direct dialing over PSTN or IPnetwork. An example of a data file receiver includes a module thataccommodates sending data file from the sender device to the messagingserver over circuit-switched or packet switched network, over protocolssuch as HTTP, SMS, MMS, etc. An example of a data file transmitterincludes a module that accommodates sending data file from the messageserver to the recipient device over circuit-switched or packet-switchednetwork over protocols such as HTTP, SMS, MMS, etc. The messaging server60 is illustrated as being in communication with a network, but may alsobe integrated with a network, for example the cellular network of thesender.

Referring to FIG. 5, in an embodiment, the messaging server 60 isconfigured with a voice-recognition unit 68 implementingvoice-recognition processing. An example of voice-recognition processingincludes a suite of Voice Manager Products developed by HeyAnita Inc. ofBurbank, Calif. and is herein incorporated by reference. Reference isalso made to U.S. patent Publication No. US 20030078779A1, assigned tothe assignee of the present invention, which discloses an interactivevoice response system, and is fully incorporated by reference herein.Another example of voice-recognition programming is disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 6,501,966 to Bareis et. al. and is herein incorporated byreference as well. In this embodiment, the sender may pre-programcontact information including a recipient's name and phone number, andassociate the phone number with a recipient's name. When sending amessage, the sender may speak the name of the recipient and themessaging server 60 will identify the recipient's contact informationusing the voice-recognition unit 68. If the recipient's phone number hasnot been pre-programmed, the sender may speak the recipient's phonenumber, and the messaging server will identify the recipient's phonenumber using the voice-recognition unit 68. Examples of commands thatmay be implemented by DTMF recognition and/or voice-recognition include,but are not limited to, dialing, web browsing, calling, bringing up acontact list, adding a contact, removing a contact, stopping a call,entering additional recipient phone numbers, etc.

The sender may indicate the recipient or recipients of the data fileusing the sender device. In one embodiment, the sender inputs therecipient device address into a sender device, such as a cellular orlandline phone. The messaging server detects the recipient deviceaddress using dual tone multi frequency DTMF recognition, voicerecognition, and/or over IP-based network. DTMF and voice recognitionmay also be used to navigate a menu to interact with the messagingserver and to select a recipient device address that has beenpre-programmed into the messaging server.

Further, the sender may have access to an address book stored on themessaging server 60 or on a sender device. In one embodiment, a globaladdress book lists the names and contact information of all subscribersto the messaging server. The contact information can include, but is notlimited to, phone numbers and electronic mail addresses. A sender mayalso choose to create his own personal address book which lists only thecontact information of people the sender has placed in the address book.Often a sender may send a data file to a new recipient who is not listedin an address book. When the sender sends the new recipient a data filethe messaging server detects whether the contact information of the newrecipient is contained within an address book. If the new recipient'scontact information is not present in an address book, the messagingserver prompts the sender to add the new recipient's contactinformation.

A sender may also group recipients into a distribution list where thesender need only select the distribution list as the recipient to send adata file to each member of the distribution list. Each member of thelist may have different types of recipient devices. Also, a distributionlist may be created that sends a data file to multiple devices of asingle recipient.

In another embodiment the present invention, the messaging server 60communicates with the sender device, and downloads the contactinformation of recipients stored in the sender device. The contactinformation is then placed within an address book. For example, acellular phone may have a memory card (such as a SIM card) thatfunctions as a memory device for storing contact information. The SIMcard allows the user of the cellular phone to add and delete contactinformation. The messaging server may download the contact informationcontained in the SIM card. In this embodiment of the invention, a userof the cellular phone may make changes to the contact information on theSIM card, and these changes would be reflected on the address bookcontained at the messaging server and vice versa. To keep the contactinformation of the sender updated, the messaging server may periodicallyquery the cellular phone or the cellular phone may transmit changes inits SIM card to the messaging server each time changes are made to thestored contact information.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the sender device 40 may comprise in additionto a cellular phone, a PDA and/or portable computer, a fixed device suchas a landline phone and a personal computer. Each sender device 40 maytransmit different types of data files 50 over different types ofnetworks, collectively represented by network 58. A data file 50 caninclude, but is not limited to, analog and digital voice messages, textfiles, image files, executable files, music files, audio files, videofiles, multimedia files, and voice over Internet protocol (VOIP)transmissions. Different types of networks (58, 76) include cellularnetworks, wide area networks such as the Internet, local area networks,telephony networks and PSTN's. Examples of different sender devicesusing different networks include a portable computer transmitting avoice message over a cellular network to the messaging server 60. Thepersonal computer may transmit a text message and/or a voice messageover a data network such as the Internet. The personal computer may usea voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) to transmit the voice message. Thelandline phone may transmit a voice message to the messaging serverthrough a PSTN.

Similarly, the recipient's device 82 may comprise in addition to acellular phone, similar devices as the sender device 40 noted above.

In one embodiment, the sender device may be enabled to capture audio,video and/or multimedia files, and transmitting them over IP or PSTNnetwork to the message server. This transmission can occur usingstore-and-forward or streaming. This can occur over variety of protocolssuch as SMS, HTTP, MMS etc. Similarly, the files may be sent to therecipient device from the message server over IP or PSTN network. Thistransmission can occur using store-and-forward or streaming. This canoccur over variety of protocols such as SMS, HTTP, MMS etc.

In one embodiment, a data file such as a voice message may be created byconverting a text message to a voice message. A text message is providedto the messaging server 60 via the sender device 40 and the text messageis converted to a voice message using a text-to-speech conversionprocess known in the art. With text-to-speech conversion, the textmessage is converted to audible sounds, allowing the recipient to hearthe text message as a voice message. The text message may be convertedto a voice message by the sender device 40 or may be converted by themessaging server 60. In one exemplary embodiment, a sender using acellular phone wishes to send a text message to a recipient, but therecipient only has access to a landline phone that is not able toreceive the text message. The sender sends a text message to themessaging server 60. The text message is converted to a voice messageusing a text-to-speech conversion process, so that the recipient canretrieve the voice message converted from the text message using thelandline phone.

In another embodiment, a sender may send a data file in the form of atext message to a recipient using the messaging server 60. However, thesender wishes to dictate the text message. A speech-to-text processingmay be used to convert the sender's speech into a text message. Thespeech-to-text processing may be enabled at the sender device or may beperformed by the messaging server.

Referring to FIG. 3, in one embodiment, the messaging server 60comprises many servers 10 that are inter-connected via a communicationnetwork 14, such as a landline telephone network or an IP network, witheach server 10 having the full functionality of a messaging server asdescribed above, however each serving a different geographical region,for example. Details of various hardware and software componentscomprising the communication network 14 are not shown (such as servers,routers, gateways, etc.) as they are well known in the art. Further, itis understood that access to the communication network 14 by the servers10 may be via suitable transmission medium, such as coaxial cable,telephone wire, wireless RF links, or the like. Communication betweenthe servers 10 takes place by means of an established protocol.Depending on the recipient's device location, the messaging server 60may provide a unique access address in the message notification to therecipient, which is directed to retrieve the sender's message from aserver 10 located in the same region as the recipient's device. Forexample, a sender can forward a voice message to a recipient in anothercountry. The message server 60 would determine the country based on therecipient address specified by the sender, and route the sender's voicemessage to a server 10 that serves that country. Upon notification, therecipient could simply retrieve the sender's voice message from theserver 10 that is located in his local region, instead of making a longdistant call to a messaging server located in another country or region.In one embodiment, if the connectivity is IP-based, the message isretained on the originating server and is retrieved over IP by thedestination server at runtime. This ensures that only one copy of themessage is maintained on a server when the same message is sent tomultiple recipients. The sender's voice message may be routed to thelocal server in another country via an IP network, telephony network, abroadband network, etc. The notification message to the recipient may besent via a different network, such as a cellular network.

Turning now to FIG. 4, there is schematically illustrated one embodimentof a computer system 20 which may be configured as the messaging server60 for receiving, storing and/or transmitting messages. The computersystem 20 communicates with the communication network 14, which mayinclude IP networks, cellular networks and PSTN's. The computer system20 includes a processor 22, internal random-access memory (“RAM”) 23 andread-only memory (“ROM”) 25, and data bus architecture 26 for couplingthe processor 22 to various internal and external components. Thecomputer system 20 further includes a communication device 36 which, inturn, is coupled to a communication channel 38 for effectingcommunication with the network 14. A mass storage device 34, such as ahard disk drive or floppy disk drive or CD-ROM drive, is coupled to theprocessor 22 for storing utility and application software (including asuitable web browser for navigating the Internet network) and otherdata. The application software is executed or performed by the processor22.

Input devices controlled by the user are also coupled to the processor22, including a cursor positioning device 30 and a keyboard 32 inaccordance with the present invention. The cursor positioning device 30is representative of any number of input devices that produce signalscorresponding to a cursor location on a display 24, and may include byway of example, a mouse, a trackball, an electronic pen, or a touch-pad,which may be an integral part of the keyboard 32. The display 24 iscoupled to the processor 22 through a video controller 28. The videocontroller 28 coordinates the presentation of information on the display24 in one or more windows.

The messaging server 60 herein described may be coupled to, withoutlimitation, distributed information exchange networks, such as PSTN,cellular network, public and private computer networks (e.g., Internet,Intranet, WAN, LAN, etc.), value-added networks, communications networks(e.g., wired or wireless networks), broadcast networks, and ahomogeneous or heterogeneous combination of such networks. Thenotification message to the recipient may be sent via one or acombination of such networks. The recipient may retrieve the data filevia one or a combination of such networks. As will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art, the networks may include both hardware andsoftware and can be viewed as either, or both, according to whichdescription is most helpful for a particular purpose. For example, themessaging server 60 can be described as a set of hardware nodes that canbe interconnected by a communications facility, or alternatively, as thecommunications facility, or alternatively, as the communicationsfacility itself with or without the nodes. It will be furtherappreciated that the line between hardware and software is not alwayssharp, it being understood by those skilled in the art that such mediumsand communications facility involve both software and hardware aspects.

Cross-reference is made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/852,849,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,483,525, titled “Method And System For Selecting ACommunication Channel With A Recipient Device Over a CommunicationNetwork”, which was concurrently filed on May 24, 2004, and commonlyassigned to the assignee of the present invention. Cross-reference isalso made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/852,848, titled “Methodand System for Establishing a Teleconference Over a Telephony Network”,which was concurrently filed on May 24, 2004, and commonly assigned tothe assignee of the present invention. These patents are incorporated byreference herein as if fully set forth herein. These patents disclosemethods and systems for further applications of the present invention.For example, the present invention may be used to develop ateleconferencing system that notifies targeted participants to beinvited to a teleconference initiated by an initiator. A unique accessaddress may be associated with each different telephone conference, tobe included in a notification message to the participants. Theparticipants can join in the teleconference by accessing the uniqueaccess address. Further, the notification aspect of the presentinvention may be one of the available options for selection to be thebest available mode or channel of communicating with a recipient.

A method or process is here, and generally, conceived to be aself-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. Thesesteps require physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times,principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals asbits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or thelike. It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similarterms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities andare merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

Useful devices for performing the operations of the present inventioninclude, but are not limited to, general or specific purposecommunication, digital processing and/or computing devices, whichdevices may be standalone devices or part of a larger system. Forexample, the messaging server 60 may be implemented as a unitaryphysical device, or a combination of several separate discrete physicaldevices operationally coupled together to form a functional messagingserver, each with one or more dedicated functions. The devices may beselectively activated or reconfigured by a program, routine and/or asequence of instructions and/or logic stored in the devices. In short,use of the methods described and suggested herein is not limited to aparticular processing configuration.

It is appreciated that detailed discussion of the actual implementationof the messaging server 60 and other functional components disclosedherein is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the invention.The actual implementation is well within the routine skill of aprogrammer and system engineer, given the disclosure herein of thesystem attributes, functionality and inter-relationship of the variousfunctional modules in the system. A person skilled in the art, applyingordinary skill can practice the present invention without undueexperimentation.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scopeof the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of transmitting a data file from a sender to a recipient, comprising the steps of: receiving said data file sent from a sender device by a messaging server; said messaging server associating said data file with a unique access address; said messaging server associating said unique access address with a notification message; said messaging server transmitting said notification message to said recipient, wherein: said notification message is not sent while the sender device is accessing the messaging server and said notification message is queued for later delivery; and said messaging server transmits said notification message to said recipient based on contact information of said recipient; said recipient accessing said unique access address to retrieve said data file; said messaging server identifying the unique access address used by the recipient; and said messaging server transmitting said data file corresponding to the unique access address to said recipient.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said notification message is sent within at least one of a text message, a voice message and an electronic mail.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting said data file to said messaging server by said sender comprises the steps of: speaking a voice message into said sender device; and converting said voice message to text using speech-to-text processing.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting said data file to said messaging server by said sender comprises the steps of: inputting a text message into said sender device; and converting said text message to a voice message using text-to-speech processing.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein more than one data file is transmitted, and wherein a different unique access address is associated with a different data file.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of said messaging server identifying the unique access address comprises the steps of: messaging server determining a dialed access phone number with a dialed number identification service (DNIS); and messaging server determining a data file associated with said dialed access phone number.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of said recipient accessing said unique access address to retrieve said data file further comprises the step of authenticating the recipient.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of the sender designating a recipient device address to which the notification message is to be transmitted, and the step of authenticating the recipient includes the step of verifying one of said recipient contact information and personal identification information wherein said personal identification information comprises at least one of name, user identification number and personal identification number code.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the data file is transmitted over a cellular network, wherein the sender has a sender cellular device and the recipient has a recipient cellular device, and wherein the sender transmits the data file using the sender cellular device, and the recipient accesses the unique access address to retrieve the data file using the recipient cellular device.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the notification message is sent via text messaging to the recipient cellular device.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the sender cellular device communicates with a first cellular network to which the sender subscribes, and the recipient cellular device communicates with a second cellular network to which the recipient subscribes.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said data file is transmitted to said messaging server over a first communication network, and wherein said notification message is transmitted to said recipient over a second communication network.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said first communication network and said second communication network are disparate networks.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein said sender device stores contact information to keep recipient contact information of said sender updated within an address book stored on said messaging server, and wherein said messaging server periodically queries said sender device for detecting changes in said stored contact information of said recipient.
 15. A messaging server for transmitting a data file from a sender to a recipient, said messaging server comprising: a data receiver receiving said data file from a device of said sender; a notification message transmitter associating said data file with a unique access address and associating said unique access address with a notification message, and transmitting said notification message to said recipient, wherein: said notification message is not sent while the sender is accessing the messaging server and said notification message is queued for later delivery; and said messaging server transmitting said notification message to said recipient based on said recipient contact information; a data file transmitter providing access to a recipient using said unique access address, and transmitting said data file from said messaging server to a device of said recipient.
 16. The messaging server of claim 15, wherein said sender device stores contact information to keep recipient contact information of said sender updated within an address book stored on said messaging server, and wherein said messaging server periodically queries said sender device for detecting changes in said stored contact information of said recipient.
 17. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium for programming a messaging server to forward a data file from a sender device to a recipient device, said medium including processor executable instructions comprising: a first program module in said messaging server, said first program module configured to receive said data file from said sender device associated with a sender; a second program module in said messaging server, said second program module configured to associate said data file with a unique access address, said second program module configured to associate said unique access address with a notification message, said second program module configured to transmit said notification message to said recipient, and wherein: said second program module configured to not send said notification message when said messaging server is being accessed by said sender device and queue said notification message for later delivery; and said second program module configured to transmit said notification message to said recipient device based on said recipient contact information; a third program module for transmitting said data file corresponding to said unique access address from said messaging server to said recipient device of said recipient.
 18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising a fourth program module configured for providing access to the recipient device to retrieve said data file.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising a fifth program module configured for identifying said unique access address used by said recipient device. 